Mystery/Crime

Behind the colorful charm and vibrant history of the English seaside town of Blackpool is a legacy of secrets. Secrets people have killed to keep hidden. But for Michael and Molly Graham, finding the truth has become personal. Their friend clings to life in a hospital shot to keep him quiet and the couple is driven to uncover what he would risk his life for and what someone would murder for.But the pieces of this puzzle are as disparate as any they've faced a sunken pirate ship, a one-legged ske... more info>>

When the police are asked to investigate the brutal murder of bookseller Brian MacDonald, who's been stabbed in the back with his letter opener, they have no trouble locating suspects, because MacDonald has been less than honest in his dealings. But Detective Bentley Hollow has problems of his own: his wife has left him, and he detests his new partner. Still, he has to find a solution to the crime, and when he does, his life will be irrevocably changed. The first in a new series.

"Mom! Dad! No!" Jake cried as he dropped to his knees, hands shaking and coated in their blood. Jake Anderson's life had always been shrouded in mystery; and a feeling that he was living a lie constantly nagged at him. When a journal shows up from an unaddressed sender and someone begins to act out his nightmares killing his loved ones, things start to spin out of control. But with the victims blood on his hands is he creeping toward insanity or merely uncovering a truth?

Hurricane Andrew left more than devastation in his wake. Aboard the Pretty Woman, Shorty Stubblefield had survived the wind, but not the bullet in his head. Once again Gin Ritchey is faced with a mystery, and this one is complicated by a couple of unscrupulous treasure hunters, an ex-wife more interested in justice than her inheritance, and the hurricane's aftermath. The more clues she turns up, the greater the danger to marina residents who know too much, and she may be one of them.

Can you consider a necklace a gift if it makes you angry enough to kill? A simple trinket left in a confessional begins a path of destruction throughout the years. The golden locket, left behind by a woman who killed her boyfriend, is supposedly cursed; at least that's what she claimed before she raced out of the church. Anyone who dares fasten the pendant around her neck suffers severe and uncontrollable anger. Woe be it to anyone who gets in the path of the wearer. Is the piece cursed, or are ... more info>>

A hoard of ivory chessmen discovered on the Isle of Lewis in 1831 still commands the attention of scholars and museum patrons in modern-day London, but the police are more concerned with the connection a newly discovered rook has with a body that just bobbed up in the Regents Canal. Just when Ernie Bisquets, a reformed London pickpocket, was settling into his new life with the East London Adventurers Club, his daily routine is interrupted by the apparent suicide of an old school mate. What surp... more info>>

Four scintillating tales of detection from ancient and medieval times. In "The Judgment of the Gods," a young Greek trade must solve the murder of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. William of Occam, the great medieval philosopher, is forced by Pope John XXII in "Occam's Razor" to solve the murderse of French King Philip IV and Pope Clement V--the suppressors of the Templar Order. Occam returns in "Occam's Treasure," this time unraveling the puzzle surrounding a killer of clergymen in Avignon. Final... more info>>

Cherryl Miller wanted to be taken seriously. But she also wanted love and excitement. The boys Cherryl met at college thought country girls were easy prey. But shy, pretty Cherryl skipped the fraternity dances, the bottle parties, the necking in parked cars--and stayed lonesome. What she wanted most was to be respected as a school teacher and be loved by a marrying man. Trapped in a drab prairie town, among rough ranch hands and restless married men, Cherryl escaped her loneliness in secret mee... more info>>

A talented musician's unsolved murder draws McLaren into another challenging investigation. Ex-police detective Michael McLaren had no intention of delving into another cold case of murder. And certainly had no intention of making his inquiries a new career. But when his fiancée dangles the intriguing aspects of the unsolved murder of local folk musician Kent Harrison before McLaren, he snaps at the bait. A popular music teacher at Grange Hall Performing Arts College, Kent Harrison had been, pe... more info>>

Is the phantom black dog haunting a sleepy English village a harbinger of two mysterious disappearances? One dark March evening Vera Howarth vanishes from her village. Despite search teams, TV appeals and a police investigation, she is never found. Her disappearance transmutes into a local ghost story. That was 23 years ago. Now Reed Fitzgerald, the organizer of the village well dressing custom, goes missing. The incident is linked by speculation and fear to Vera's. Detective-Sergeant Brenna Tay... more info>>

When the American born heir to the kingdom of Kushawa is hidden in an age-qualified retirement community, a battle of wits and tactics develops between the Kushawan Alliance of Royal Princes (KARP), determined to eliminate the infant, and a group of senior citizens, The Blenders, equally determined to save him. Doll Reynolds pulls the residents into a unified group while the baby's mother, Moira Robbins, risks her life to lure the KARP assassins away from her child.

Who murdered a popular high school drama teacher? Angie Deacon always thought the gene that produced maternal instinct was missing from her DNA. Till she meets Kiana Smith: beautiful, personable, talented and?grieving, because her mentor, Gwen Forest, the drama teacher has been murdered. The principal of Carlson South High School begs Angie to come supervise a production scheduled for that weekend. The play, written by Kiana and her friend Evan, is a fundraising effort to save the school's floun... more info>>

A simple case turns into a web of lethal deception. When sleek Emily Davies begs Elvin Suggs to trail her philandering husband, Nick, it seems like an easy request. Dimond "Di" Redding and Elvin are eager to get started on the first case for their new business, Grapevine Investigations. Along with help from their fellow Vietnam vet Cobra Glynes, they follow the cheating husband straight to St. Louis' notorious "no tell motel"--The Coral Court. Right from the start Di distrusts Emily, a nurse at... more info>>

Hollywood always does things on a big scale, so when a murder was committed in the studios of Magna Pictures, it was nothing short of sensational. They were shooting the story of an invisible man. The Man From Nowhere, when the invisible man came to life, murdered Carlton Hughes. Hollywood's newest swoon man, and departed. There were a hundred witnesses yet not one of them saw the phantom make the bloody footprints across the floor of the studio. It was super-colossal and it took that colossal ... more info>>

Constancy always dreamed of celebrating Christmas surrounded by a large family. She's thrilled for the opportunity to savor the holiday with her newly-found relatives in South Dakota, but a gang of fossil rustlers and the secrets of a missing shepherd may turn Constancy's long-awaited dream into nightmare.

An international courier--know him as Rincon--is paid well to discreetly convey the interests of his clients who operate on the shady side, even the dark side, of law and convention. In the case of "The Diamond Exchange," that task is clandestinely transporting a priceless collection of precious jewels clustered in gold as well as enshrouded in a country's turbulent history. Rincon escorts the national treasure from Europe to South America and back, all in the course of his dangerous but highly... more info>>

Lawyer Seymour Lipp tries to help a teenage girl who was persuaded by her father to give her baby up for adoption--and now wants to change her decision. Her father, Paul Morrissey, had arranged the adoption through a shady lawyer to a Vietnam vet and his wife. When Morrissey is murdered, Lipp investigates several people who would benefit from his death. [Second Seymour Lipp mystery] Mystery by Stephen Lewis; originally published by Walker Mystery

by Arline Chase FIRE NEXT TIME is the tale of how a young teen handles it when her mother's "just plain no-good" boyfriend sets out to destroy her family and her world. ISBN 978-1-59431-880-1 Young Adult / Action adventure

Twila Taunton doesn't expect to find herself ducking bullets when she invites hunky P.I. Harland O'Connor to the company picnic. Pretty soon she forgets she's vowed never to allow a man into her life again. Even worse, his equally hunky twin brother, Horton, makes her forget she's allergic to cops. With her cocky small-town Southern attitude, Twila steps in to pinch-hit for Harland while he recovers from the shooting. Her lack of city-sophistication and disregard for political correctness help h... more info>>

With his cover blown, former DEA Agent Tyler Clark has nothing but time on his hands. Time-and orders-to see the police psychologist before taking a new case. Gracie VanDoren's cheerful determination to help him drives Tyler up the wall...right up until a threatening letter has Gracie's sunshiny demeanor giving way to fear. As the threats escalate, both realize someone has an unusually personal vendetta against Gracie. Now Tyler's cover is blown again. Because he's committed to being her point-b... more info>>

Lee and his Grampa Myles share a rare and deadly secret. Most of the time, they're able to control it. But once, when Grampa was younger, it got away from him. Ever since that day, something has been eating at his insides. Now, Lee faces his own deadly moment. Will he be able to resist the temptation? A short story from our Spectres horror line.

The scent of cotton candy, kettle corn, deep-fried cheese curds and pronto pups fill the air at the end of summer. The Minnesota State Fair has started and, slice by slice, a chunk of butter reveals a woman's head; a bust of Princess Kay of the Milky Way. This year the sculptor is knocked out, the model is strangled with wire and the smiling butter sculpture helps guide Dan Niemi and Jeff Andersen to the killer's identity. A short story from our Fingerprints mystery/crime/thriller line.

The Ancient nodded. "The Book will explain this to you. One day the Seeker shall appear, and with my blood in your veins you will know him..." Meet Willem Townsend: London-based entrepreneur; loyal friend; loving uncle. He seems to have everything going for him, but deep down Will is trapped by work, family, and the sheer mundanity of daily routine. Stepping outside his comfort zone he begins an internet romance and, despite the reservations of his best friend Jake, Will arranges to meet his lo... more info>>

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle This collection of 13 Holmes stories was initially published during the years 1903 - 1904. It is the first collection to appear since Holmes supposedly died in "The Adventure of the Final Problem," and represents Doyle at his best. Among the 13 we find everything from The Adventure of the Empty House (which features the return of Holmes and his explanation of miraculously surviving a to the death struggle with Professor Moriarity) to The Adventure of the Second Stain. ... more info>>